Tire Reviews

[Redog]

My new fav:



Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S

Store/Site purchased: Tire Rack.com

Initial product impressions, quality:Rated at a "High Performance" tire on Tire Rack these are the best tires that have ever been on my Alero. After 30,000 miles still have a little over 1/2 tread life. Wheel hop is gone after hard accel, but was there when the tires were new. Cornering is much imporved and this is the first season I raced the 1/4 mile with these on the car and they grip the track like nothing else. Not even a chrip.

If not self installed, cost of installation: $40 mounted and balanced

The price has gone up for my size (225/45/17) to a whopping $176 a tire (I paid $168) but well worth the money. Thinking back to the Yokos I had that lasted just under 30,000 miles, and the Sumitomo HTR+ that only lasted about 20,000 miles, those 2 sets of tires cost me a total of $852, at a little under $700 for these, well the choice is clear, just from a finacial standpoint

[sfi3400]

i have hancok ventus tires 225/55/16 and i love them they handle nice 100 each

[JLw7123]

my favorites are the Hankook K106 radials and the BF goodrich G force and nitto NT555 tires http://www.nittotire.com/#index.tire.nt555

[widbyj]

Goodrich KDWs for the Win!!!

Two years to wear down the first set of 17s (although still mounted and used for spares, they fit caddies too). Got 18s on the new rims, no real mileage yet...

These things are scary good! Cornering is very tight, grip is great and the 'pumping' effect when you run through water is amazing! Maybe not cheap and the soft/sticky rubber wears kinda fast (25k) but well worth it, IMHO.

[nicothehut]

Best SNOW tires I have ever driven with.
I Live in town thats all hills never gett stuck in the snow.
Find myself passing SUV all the time on hills as they spin there summer tires in the snow.

COST-138$ each Can. Mounted and balanced for 55$
Here in BC I run snows from Nov till start of april.
They handle better then my summer tires.

Originally Posted by nicothehut

best SNOW tires I have ever driven with.
They handle better then my summer tires.

What do you have for summer tires?
I have the Conti EWCs on my Civic for the winter and they are squirrely when the roads are dry and the temperature is above 45 degrees Farenheit.

[Redog]

Originally Posted by Redog

My new fav:



Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S

Store/Site purchased: Tire Rack.com

Initial product impressions, quality:Rated at a "High Performance" tire on Tire Rack these are the best tires that have ever been on my Alero. After 30,000 miles still have a little over 1/2 tread life. Wheel hop is gone after hard accel, but was there when the tires were new. Cornering is much imporved and this is the first season I raced the 1/4 mile with these on the car and they grip the track like nothing else. Not even a chrip.

If not self installed, cost of installation: $40 mounted and balanced

The price has gone up for my size (225/45/17) to a whopping $176 a tire (I paid $168) but well worth the money. Thinking back to the Yokos I had that lasted just under 30,000 miles, and the Sumitomo HTR+ that only lasted about 20,000 miles, those 2 sets of tires cost me a total of $852, at a little under $700 for these, well the choice is clear, just from a finacial standpoint

Just to update one these tires. I replaced them with another Michelin tire about a year ago now. The tires still had about 40% tread left with 55,000 miles on them. But after 5 years of service, they were starting to dry rot in the tread grooves. I was all ready to buy another set of these, however, to much sadness, they do not make them in size 225/45/17 anymore

[nicothehut]

I run Hankook H418 for summer tires. On the cheap end of tires (95$ each Can) but have lasted along time.
Ran high priced Toyos befor the H418 but killed the fronts in one summer.

I find the Conti track the road groves way more then the H418 if thats what you mean by squirrely but come time to put the power down staight line or in a corner the Conti hardly ever spin or sideout.

[Redog]

Michelin Piolt Sport A/S Plus

Site purshaced:
Summit Racing, they go for $229 a tire on there, however they could not price match Tirerack's price of $157 a tire, but they knocked it down to $160 a tire

Initial product impressions, quality: Rated a better tire on Michelin's line than the Exalto's I had, I was impressed. These tires are smooth inside, which is something I've never seen before. After driving on these tires for a year, I cannot say they suck, but not great either. Wet traction is very good, snow traction is very very very good (car dug itself a trench and got stuck with one little tap of the gas pedal so maybe a little too good) however on a "launch" start or even gas pedal pushed 1/2 way, I can spin them pretty easy. In the wet weather, it's very easy to smoke them up for a long distance in a straight line. Great for showing off, but not great for traction.

If not self installed, cost of installation: $40 mounted and balanced

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric

Site purchased:
The Tire Rack; $142.00 (225/45R17).

Initial product impressions, quality: This is a wonderful summer tire. Great traction in both wet and dry, quiet and comfortable ride (as Max Performance tires go). A bit on the heavy side, and I wouldn't mind a sharper turn-in, but that's the price for a slightly relaxed sidewall (as compared to my other set of tires - Potenza RE-01Rs). I like them as much as the Eagle F1 GS-D3, and these have the advantage of not being directional, so they can be properly rotated to extend their life.

If not self installed, cost of installation: $80 mounted and balanced.

[Naich]

Firestone Destination ST, paid about 180/tire installed for my wife's Santa Fe in 235/60/18. So far, I love these tires. They are a HUGE improvement over the stock Bridgestone Deuller tires that came with the truck. Already driven in the snow, 19 inches, and traction was excellent. Quiet tires too.

[TdotAlero]

IMG_0172.jpg

Yokohama S480 Winter

Store/Site purchased: Willys Tires

Initial product impressions, quality: (size 225/50/15) I actually 'special' ordered this set brand new through my tire shop, as they are a discontinued winter tire. I was looking for an aggressive thread pattern, but something that wouldn't burn the rubber to quick as I do a lot of highway driving in the winter. Very good traction in snow and ice. Not so great in rain, but they are winter tires, not all season. A little noisy but you get used to it. I paid a total of $400 for the set (cost). If you can get your hands on a set of these, I recommend them.

If not self installed, cost of installation: self installed, but would cost you $60 to mount and ballance at my shop.

[rustyballs_69]

Originally Posted by Naich

Firestone Destination ST, paid about 180/tire installed for my wife's Santa Fe in 235/60/18. So far, I love these tires. They are a HUGE improvement over the stock Bridgestone Deuller tires that came with the truck. Already driven in the snow, 19 inches, and traction was excellent. Quiet tires too.

The ST is a very good tire. The Duelers suck. Bridgestone doesn't make a very good truck/suv tire with the exception of the Dueler H/L Alenza, damn good tire. But its a totally different rubber compound then the Dueler H/L. Nice buy Naich.

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by Naich

So far, I love these tires. They are a HUGE improvement over the stock Bridgestone Deuller tires that came with the truck.

Isn't it pretty much a given that stock tires on almost all cars wear out pretty quickly and otherwise suck?

[Naich]

I don't know about wearing out quickly. My wife's tires had 45k on em. That's not too bad, IMO. And if I really pushed it, I probably could have gone another 5k with them, as they were not down to the wear bar yet. But they were getting pretty close and one tire was plugged 3x and was slow leaking again. My dad's stock tires on his GMC he just changed after 60k. After getting like 20k out of the Sumitomo HTR+ on my Alero, 45k seems awesome! I hope to get 45 out of these Destination ST's.

[Redog]

Originally Posted by zzyzzx

Isn't it pretty much a given that stock tires on almost all cars wear out pretty quickly and otherwise suck?

Yeah pretty much. Last about 20K

[Papa Rad17]

Firestone Winterforce
store purchased- Bryant's auto center
initial impression- had them on for a week now. VERY impressed! deep tread, of course its made to be more of a winter tire but in the rain the past few days I haven't been able to make then slip yet. and the really like to hug the dry road. Installed on my stock rims they greatly improved ride quality and handling, that also could be because my old tires were practically slicks the tread was so low, but still, huge improvement. They are also nicely quite considering the tread (it looks way beefier in person), after getting a few miles on them they have broke in very nicely. I defiantly recamend! A friend has had them for 3 years as only for winter and the sidewalls are still holding up great after the long summers in the shed. they guy who put them on had to order a set for himself
Installation price- $525 mounted and balanced. listed at $137 a tire. 50,000 mile warranty w/ free rotations and rebalancing at Bryant's (they always do with full set purchase)

[xbxradxsx]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....el=G-Max+AS-03

I haven't done alot of driving on them since I've had them, but did make the drive from MS to Houston and they felt WAY better then the Nankang NSII's that I did have when I first got my 18's. I'm on 235/40/18. They're newer tires and are supposed to have a very high mileage rating.

[Philbar71]

Kumho Ecsta AST

225/55/15





Pros: Relatively good looking tread pattern. Cheap. They were only about $79 per tire on Tire Rack. Pretty good dry traction. Relatively stiff sidewall for such a low priced tire. Good steering response. Have not had a chance to test them in the rain yet, as Ive only got about 500 miles on them.

Cons: Pretty loud around the 40-55mph range, they sound like big truck tires when coming to a stop too. The tread ware rating is only 400 so Im not expecting much more than 25k out of these, but for the price thats to be expected.